CEDAW/C/2009/WP.1/R many women migrant workers and their experiences of sex- and gender-based discrimination as a cause and consequence of the violations of their human rights. 3. While States are entitled to control their borders and regulate migration, they must do so in full compliance with their obligations as parties to the human rights treaties they have ratified or acceded to. That includes the promotion of safe migration procedures and the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of women throughout the migration cycle. Those obligations must be undertaken in recognition of the social and economic contributions of women migrant workers to their own countries and countries of destination, including through caregiving and domestic work. 4. The Committee recognizes that migrant women may be classified into various categories relating to the factors compelling migration, the purposes of migration and accompanying tenure of stay, the vulnerability to risk and abuse, and their status in the country to which they have migrated, and their eligibility for citizenship. The Committee also recognizes that these categories remain fluid and overlapping, and that therefore it is sometimes difficult to draw clear distinctions between the various categories. Thus, the scope of this general recommendation is limited to addressing the situations of the following categories of migrant women who, as workers, are in low-paid jobs, may be at high risk of abuse and discrimination and who may never acquire eligibility for permanent stay or citizenship, unlike professional migrant workers in the country of employment. As such, in many cases, they may not enjoy the protection of the law of the countries concerned, at either de jure or de facto levels. These categories of migrant women are:4 (a) Women migrant workers who migrate independently; (b) Women migrant workers who join their spouses or other members of their families who are also workers; (c) Undocumented5 women migrant workers who may fall into any of the above categories. The Committee, however, emphasizes that all categories of women migrants fall within the scope of the obligations of States parties to the Convention and must be protected against all forms of discrimination by the Convention. __________________ 4 5 08-63558 This general recommendation deals only with the work-related situation of women migrants. While it is a reality that in some instances women migrant workers may become victims of trafficking due to various degrees of vulnerability they face, this general recommendation will not address the circumstances relating to trafficking. The phenomenon of trafficking is complex and needs more focused attention. The Committee is of the opinion that this phenomenon can be more comprehensively addressed through article 6 of the Convention which places an obligation on States parties “to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women”. The Committee emphasizes however, that many elements of the present general recommendation are also relevant in situations where women migrants have been victims of trafficking. Undocumented workers are those migrant workers who are without a valid residence or work permit. There are many circumstances under which this could have happened. For example, they may have been given false papers by unscrupulous agents or they may have entered the country with a valid work permit, but may have subsequently lost it because the employer may have arbitrarily terminated their services, or become undocumented because employers may have confiscated their passports. Sometimes workers may have extended their stay after the expiry of the work permit or entered the country without valid papers. 3